"The Avengers" Assembles an $80 Million Friday

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Friday was a good day to be an Avenger as the film grossed $80.5 million. The industry site calls it "the second biggest single day of all time at the domestic box office" just behind last summer's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" which grossed $91.1 million in a single day.

Released in foreign markets late last month, Marvel's "The Avengers" already has an impressive $334.3 million under its belt and a hefty worldwide gross of $414.8 million. Truly amazing numbers for the seemingly risky proposition of bringing together the title characters of four other films (and the actors/CGI who play them) under one banner.

In the planning since 2008's "Iron Man," the film is the first big-screen superhero team-up to actually see release, let alone receive validation with box office records and audience appreciation. The same THR story reports the film earned an A+ from CinemaScore, the firm that tracks moviegoer enthusiasm.

The film is also winning over reviewers with a 93% rating at the aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Many of the featured reviews credit director Joss Whedon with keeping all of the myriad elements in the movie working amicably. The Atlantic's Christopher Orr notes Whedon's "clear vision for each character and how they might be profitably intermingled; his unexpected knack for action choreography; his funny, tender, immaculately constructed script (from a story he co-wrote with Zak Penn)."

"The Avengers" faces one more tussle with "The Deathly Hallows" this weekend as it may unseat the later film's $169.2 million opening weekend record. Stay with CBR as the record-shattering race continues.